Home Office

Appointment of the Forensic Science Regulator

Kit Malthouse: I am today announcing arrangements for the appointment of the Forensic Science Regulator. Following an open competition conducted in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, I have decided to appoint Gary Pugh OBE. He is a forensic scientist who has previously held a number of senior leadership posts in forensic science in the UK, including the Director of Forensic Services in the Metropolitan Police Service and leader of national governance boards and operations. His 3-year term of appointment has commenced on 16th May. This appointment comes at an opportune moment, with the Forensic Science Regulator Act receiving Royal Assent last month. This means that for the first time the Regulator will have statutory powers to help drive up quality standards in forensic science. I should like to record the government’s appreciation of the former Regulator, Dr Gillian Tully CBE, for her contribution towards the regulation of quality in Forensic Science in England and Wales.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Use of the Industrial Development Act 1982 for Coronavirus related assistance

Paul Scully: I am tabling this statement for the benefit of Hon. Members to bring to their attention spend under the Industrial Development Act 1982. In addition to the obligation to report on spend under the Industrial Development Act annually, the Coronavirus Act 2020 created a new quarterly reporting requirement for spend which has been designated as coronavirus-related under the Coronavirus Act. This statement fulfils that purpose.The statement also includes a report of the movement in contingent liability during the quarter. Hon. Members will wish to note that measures such as Local Authority grants, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, and tax measures such as the suspension of Business Rates are not provided under the Industrial Development Act 1982 and hence are not included below.This report covers the fourth quarter of 2020, from 1 October to 31 December 2020, in accordance with the Coronavirus Act. It also covers, for the first time, coronavirus-related spending of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. The Written Ministerial Statement covering the third quarter of 2020 was published on 9 March 2021. Spend under the Coronavirus Act 2020Under the Coronavirus Act 2020, there is a requirement to lay before Parliament details of the amount of assistance designated as Coronavirus related provided in each relevant quarter. In the period from 1 October to 31 December 2020, the following expenditures were incurred: Actual expenditure of assistance provided by Her Majesty’s Government from 1 October to 31 December 2020, including expenditure by DEFRA in earlier quarters not previously notified.£ 957,000,978All expenditure of assistance provided by Her Majesty’s Government from 25 March 2020£ 1,651,946,560 Expenditure by Department Actual expenditure of assistance from 1 October to 31 December 2020 provided by: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy£ 943,967,558Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, including expenditure in earlier quarters not previously notified£ 13,033,420  First inclusion of Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs spend under the Coronavirus Act 2020Under the Coronavirus Act 2020, there is a requirement to lay before Parliament details of the amount of assistance designated as Coronavirus related provided in each relevant quarter. This requirement is fulfilled by the table below. Expenditure by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs is being included for the first time within this fourth quarter report. Actual expenditure of assistance provided by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs in 2020, by quarter First quarter 2020(1 January – 31 March)NILSecond quarter 2020(1 April – 30 June)£ 9,179,062Third quarter 2020(1 July – 30 September)£ 2,532,544Fourth quarter 2020(1 October – 31 December)£ 1,321,814Total reported for the first time in this fourth quarter report£ 13,033,420 Contingent liability under the Coronavirus Act 2020 Contingent liability of assistance provided by the Secretary of State from 1 October to 31 December 2020£ 11,746,523,334All contingent liability of assistance provided by the Secretary of State from 25 March 2020£ 61,188,652,244

Contingencies Fund Advance

Paul Scully: I hereby give notice of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy having drawn an advance from the contingencies fund totalling £3,380,663,000 to enable expenditure on Covid-19 support packages for business to be spent ahead of the passage of the Supply and Appropriation Act.The funding is required for the Restart Grant scheme.Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £3,380,663,000 will be sought in a Main Estimate for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £3,380,663,000 has been met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.The cash advance will be repaid upon receiving the Supply and Appropriation Act.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Rough Sleeping Initiative update

Robert Jenrick: On Saturday, the Government announced the allocation of an additional £203 million to 210 areas (representing 281 local authorities) across England to tackle rough sleeping and provide support for people living on the streets. No one should have to sleep rough and that is why the Government has committed to ending rough sleeping . The Rough Sleeping Initiative is a key part of that mission.The allocations can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rough-sleeping-initiative-2021-to-2022-funding-allocations Rough Sleeping During the last 12 months we took unprecedented steps to protect rough sleepers from the pandemic and in the longer-term. By the end of January, we had supported over 37,000 people since the pandemic began, with over 11,000 people currently being supported in emergency accommodation and over 26,000 already moved on into settled and supported accommodation. Figures published in February show that the number of people sleeping on our streets on a single night in Autumn fell by 37% compared to the previous year.This is a significant achievement, but our work continues, and we are proud to confirm allocations for the fourth year of this flagship programme. Rough Sleeping Initiative 2021/22The Government is announcing a total of £203 million of funding through the Rough Sleeping Initiative 2021/22. I am pleased to tell colleagues that this is an 81% increase from the £112 million provided last year.The Rough Sleeping Initiative, initially launched in March 2018, seeks to reduce the levels of rough sleeping by working with local authorities to provide specialist services, tailored to local circumstances, to help vulnerable people off the streets. To date the programme has been a success, with a 2018 impact evaluation finding that there was a 32% reduction in rough sleeping in areas which received the Rough Sleeping Initiative funding in 2018/19, compared to the number it would have been had the Rough Sleeping Initiative not been in place.The Rough Sleeping Initiative 2021/22 will build on past successes, providing ongoing support to those who need it and a route into settled accommodation. This year, it will also provide additional resource to continue supporting work to protect people sleeping rough from the COVID-19 pandemic.This year’s Rough Sleeping Initiative has expanded to cover 281 local authorities in England, an increase from the 270 authorities funded in 2020/21. It will provide funding for 14,500 bed spaces and 2,700 full time equivalent staff to deliver interventions to support those on the street, as well as helping local authorities and other providers transition to longer term preventative support.Saturday's funding announcement is just one part of the £750 million that this Government will be spending this financial year on homelessness and rough sleeping, and demonstrates our continued commitment to end rough sleeping.

Cabinet Office

The UK’s Emergency Alerts Service: Our way of warning you when lives are in danger

Penny Mordaunt: The Government will introduce a new Emergency Alerts service across the UK later this summer as part of the Government's continued work to improve our resilience in the event of emergencies. Emergency Alerts would inform people of serious emergencies, either nationally or in their local area, which could affect them by broadcasting information directly to their mobile phones.Emergency Alerts would only be used to warn and inform the public in emergency situations when lives are at risk. It is anticipated that this could include public health emergencies, severe floods, fires, industrial incidents and terror attacks.Messages will always include details of the impacted area, situation, actions for people to take and a link to further information not transmittable in the alert message such as maps and images. This capability is already used around the world in countries such as the United States, New Zealand and Canada, and has been shown to help save lives.Ahead of introduction, the Government is working in partnership with the devolved administrations to ensure that all relevant emergency responders across the United Kingdom have access to the capability.The Government is also working with the charity and voluntary sector to ensure that the needs of the elderly, vulnerable, young people and those with disabilities are fully considered as the new service is delivered.The new service will be secure. Alerts can only be sent by authorised Governmental and Emergency Services users. Emergency Alerts cause the phone to vibrate and emit a unique noise making them both difficult to ignore, and mimic or spoof. Emergency Alerts are broadcast from cell towers in the vicinity of an emergency, meaning that no personal data is collected and the service will never be used for commercial purposes. As part of its development, there will be a series of public trials of the system where we will send out live test alerts to the phones of people in Suffolk (25 May 2021) and Reading (15 June 2021).Should the public trials prove successful, the Government will send out a National Welcome Message to the whole of the UK later this year.During the pandemic, the Government communicated direct to the public via text message when we asked people to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives. This new alert builds on that capability, but by broadcasting from cell towers, the new Emergency Alerts messages would be quicker and delivered instantaneously to all recipients.Public testing will allow us to check the effectiveness of the system and ensure that members of the public are familiar with the new system and know what to do should they receive an alert in future. There will be localised public information campaigns ahead of each test to inform people about the look and feel of the alert and what they should do when they receive it. There will also be a nationwide public information campaign ahead of the full national launch of this new capability.To ensure that as many people as possible receive Emergency Alerts in future, we would encourage people to make sure that their phones have the latest manufacturer’s software updates downloaded.

Women and Equalities

Safe To Be Me: A Global Equality Conference on LGBT Rights

Elizabeth Truss: The UK is a global leader for equality at home and abroad, driven by a fierce belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to succeed at whatever they wish to do and to love whoever they want to love. We proudly support, defend and champion the rights of LGBT people all around the world.Now, more than ever, is an important time for us to come together and build back a better world, one where all LGBT people feel safe.That is why the UK Government will deliver its first ever global LGBT rights conference. Safe To Be Me: A Global Equality Conference will take place from 27 to 29 June 2022, marking the 50th anniversary of the first London Pride.The conference will bring together countries, international civil society and businesses to improve the rights and freedoms of LGBT people around the world. We will address three key challenges: supporting decriminalisation and legislative reform to advance equality and legal protections for LGBT people globally, tackling violence and discrimination, and improving access to public services.The event brings together two ongoing international commitments the UK holds: co-chair of the Equal Rights Coalition alongside Argentina from 2019-2022, and hosting the Council of Europe’s European LGBTI Focal Points Network Annual Forum alongside Cyprus.We will be organising a series of virtual events that bring together our key international partners, starting with an event on 18 May 2021 to mark this year’s International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT). The 2021 IDAHOT+ Forum will be an important moment to discuss a range of important issues including LGBT-inclusive healthcare and business advocacy. It will also be the beginning of a year-long partnership with Cyprus, our friend in Europe and the Commonwealth.Additionally, as co-chairs of the Equal Rights Coalition, the UK and Argentina will launch the first Strategy of the Equal Rights Coalition, and its Five-Year Implementation Plan, at a virtual meeting in July this year. This comprehensive strategy will increase international action to advance freedom and defend the rights of LGBT people. We want to ensure that everyone can live their lives free from the discrimination and violence that persists today.To drive this work the Prime Minister has appointed Lord Herbert of South Downs as his Special Envoy on LGBT rights. In this role, Lord Herbert will champion LGBT rights in the UK and abroad.The Government is committed to ensuring that LGBT people can be safe and free to live their lives as they wish, here at home and supporting them around the world. These events will be the next important step to ensuring we build a world where it is truly Safe To Be Me.